What Goes Around

Heroes and Flowers

Round 1, Part 1 - Three picture prompt from WattpadMilitaryFiction

We had under eight hours to locate and extract the hostages, and since the incursion we had put down amid a group of hostiles, lost our supply pack in the tree tops, and had spent four and one half hours fighting and evading the enemy.

Our tactics finally gave us some relief, and we holed up in the crumbled ruins of an old bunker. The aural amp on my helmet fed the night sounds into my head. Andy's breathing was the loudest. I turned and spoke, making sure he was still awake.

"Have you figured out or position yet?" I nudged his arm.

"The wrist computer can only give me last co-ordinates without the use of the satellite. If we break communication silence they'll be on us pronto."

"Can't you use any of those other gizmos you carry to give us an idea of where the hell we are?"

"The stored data shows where the targets are. It also shows where we were during the fire fight. Rough calculations put us about two and a half miles from there. Depending on whether all the evasive tactics we used didn't screw up the computer's GPS before we shut it down, we are between three and five miles from the target."

I crept to the edge of the bunker while he talked, and scanned the surrounding territory with my goggle array.

"Okay, we should be able to cover that in good time without any interruptions. Which way?"

"Good question. Best guess is northeast."

"Best guess? You carry millions of dollars in researched gadgets that are supposed to tell us everything we need to know, and you say, best guess?"

"I can break silence, John, and tell you within an inch, but a five-mile run through unfamiliar ground, swarming with hostiles is a bad option."

I finished a three-sixty scan of the area and hunkered down beside him again. "At least the array shows nothing close by." I slipped the water tube into my mouth and drank then tucked it away.

"Christ, this was supposed to be a cakewalk, now we have to become bloody heroes." I shook my head. "Let's go."

"Northeast it is, partner."

******

The cabin sat in a hollow, hidden by a forest of trees and scrub. A battery lamp set at low provided the only light inside for the two hostages. The raid on the research facility was a horror show. The kidnapping of the couple had left death and destruction of staff and equipment, eliminating years of dedicated work smouldering in the rubble.

"All those young and clever people, Lawrence . . ."

"Don't think about it, dear, nothing can be done now."

"What do they want with us?"

"Knowledge and leverage. The project was ours, and we both know it's all still here." He tapped his head, offering a weak smile.

"But they had everything at the facility."

"My guess is they felt it was easier to defend two old people than a large building full of personnel." He patted her arm. "I won't let them harm you, Vivian."

She leaned close to him, comforted as she had been for over fifty years.

The door opened, and a shadow crossed the room into the lamplight. The man looked down at the couple, his face an arrogant sneer.

"We have sent our demands to your corrupt government. They were given eight hours to comply."

"They won't, you know, Captain. They don't deal with terrorists or kidnappers." Lawrence looked up at the angry face.